Seven children belonging to the nomadic Banjara families were drowned when a country boat capsized in a waterbody in Rajasthan's Dungarpur district on Tuesday.
The children, six of whom were girls aged 11-18 years, were going to work in brick kilns. Only two were enrolled as students.
In all, there were 18 passengers in the overloaded boat when the incident took place near Baba Ki Bar village. Eleven managed to swim to safety with the help of villagers who had reached the spot.
The occupants of the boat belonged to Vijpura and Mahuwara, two neighbouring hamlets in the Chitri police station area of the Sagwara circle. Bangaras are listed as Special Backwards in Rajasthan, while Dungapur is a tribal district.
Dungarpur SP Don K. Jose told The Hindu on the phone that the accident appeared to have taken place when the boat titled and turned over because of the overload.
